In a divorce proceeding, parents often disagree about how they will allocate or even still afford a child’s expenses with the added cost of a divorce on the couple’s finances. Riding is an expensive sport, and the cost can certainly give a divorcing couple something to fight over. But an appellate court in Illinois recently held that a child’s horse related activities were educationally related expenses, and ordered the father to pay those expenses. At the time of the hearing before the trial court, the father had a gross monthly income of $11,185 and his daughter had two horses, took riding lessons, participated in 4-H, horse camps and drill teams, and competed in statewide “horse bowl” competitions related to hippology. The daughter helped care for her horses, which reduced the cost of stabling them “somewhat.” The trial court held that the horse-related activities were not the kind of extra-curricular activities the father could be forced to pay pursuant to the controlling Illinois statute. The trial court’s logic rested on finding the activities did not relate “specifically” to the child’s “education.” The appellate court disagreed. It explained that the child’s horse-related activities fell within the category of expenses related to “educational development” because the child and her parents testified regarding her stated goal of becoming an equine veterinarian. To that end, the appellate court concluded the child’s horse-related activities “are clearly intended to enhance [her] educational development” and ordered the father to pay. The case is In re Marriage of Hamilton, 2019 IL App (5th) 170295 (Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District) (6/5/19). It will be interesting to see if any other courts reach the same conclusion, as this case sets a very unusual precedent.
